Pregnancy cements prolife position

June 17, 2011 - Being prolife was easy for Danielle Bradley. Both her mother and her father, the pastor of their church, are vocally and actively prolife. She had always told anyone considering abortion that it was the wrong choice to make.

"I would tell them ‘no, don't ever get an abortion. If I ever got pregnant, I would never get an abortion,'" Danielle said.

On August 25, 2010, everything changed when Danielle found out she was pregnant and was given the opportunity to live up to that advice. She had to make a choice and discovered it was harder than she expected. Despite her prolife upbringing she found herself tempted to consider abortion, but in the end the words of her father helped her make the right choice.

"In the back of my mind I kept hearing my father," she said. "He speaks proudly on this, and he said ‘Only God takes life.'"

Danielle said her first thought when she found out she was pregnant was that she had to have an abortion. She had even gone as far as calling several abortion clinics for information. Several people told her she would have to drop out of school and work extra jobs if she kept her child. Danielle also feared how her pregnancy would affect her parents.

"I am a pastor's daughter; how is this going to look, me going to church and I'm pregnant? My dad is really into the community, so how are they going to look at him? I can't embarrass my parents," Danielle said.

Danielle spent a week debating her choice and her future. She knew that raising a child as a single parent wouldn't be easy. She was busy with classes at Oakland University and with a job. She would encounter some disapproving looks and some unkind comments as well.

In the end, however, she kept coming back to her father's words and decided her child's life was ultimately in God's hands, not her own. Danielle knew keeping her child was the right decision, but she said telling her parents was still her biggest fear of all. When the time to tell them came, her parents were disappointed but were also proud of her life-affirming decision.

"When I told my parents, they were mad, but they showed me love and compassion from the day they found out," she said.

Danielle gave birth to her son Corey on April 30. She said she'll still have to work hard to support Corey, but she has had help and will continue attending classes at Oakland University.

Her message to other women in her situation is that while an unexpected pregnancy may provide many challenges, a mother can be strong enough to meet those challenges and do what's best for her unborn child. She said there are also plenty of resources available to help.

"You can do it. I'm in school full-time, I have two jobs," she said. "I'm a pastor's daughter, and I'm doing it. I'm going to do this, if I have to do this by myself."

Thankfully, Danielle is not alone. If you know someone who is facing an unexpected pregnancy and needs help, call 1-800-57-WOMAN to get connected with a local prolife pregnancy center.